Unreasonable hospitality
Unreasonable Hospitality has been on my Audible wish list for months now and after hearing Will Guidara interviewed on a recent ‘My First Million’ episode I felt it was time to finally give it a listen. Not only did I churn through the book in less than a day (albeit at the standard 3.5x listening speed I use) but subsequently purchased the hardback so I have for ease of reference on my bookcase. That in itself probably speaks volumes on my thoughts about this one.
I initially came across the book quite a while ago from another podcast interview I believe but for those unfamiliar, Will Guidara co-owned the Make It Nice group which of several restaurants had Eleven Madison Park under its ownership. The book focuses specifically on EMP with a brief allocation at the start on the experiences leading up to Guidara’s partnership with chef Daniel Humm.
The title should already give you a good idea of the books focus as it’s exactly that; going over and above standard hospitality to create unreasonably good, and memorable experiences that will live with patrons for the rest of their lives. Although its about the hospitality industry, if you’re paying attention the practices and themes covered can be applied across other industries and businesses.
The book is littered with wonderful anecdotes of incredible moments created through both attentiveness and quick thinking. It also shines a lens on the results you get from almost relentless consistency towards high quality. Alongside this it also sprinkles in leadership lessons especially during the tougher moments and what it takes to motivate, lead and inspire teams.
This is a great read or listen regardless of the format, however it is one of those books that has such a volume of lessons you can apply that the hardback (or at least mine) will quickly find itself flooded with turned page corners and highlighted lines.
Who’s it for?
If you work in the hospitality industry then this is for you. Beyond that I think this is a valuable read for anyone who displays behaviours of close attentiveness and perfectionist focus as Guidara highlights how you can use this as your superpower. For anyone who works in customer facing roles, businesses or industries this one is definitely for you too. If you want to focus on sparking ideas of how to create a memorable customer experience regardless of your line of work then this should get that creative fire going.